Amazon urged to pick LGBT-friendly cities for HQ2

Gay rights advocates are calling on Amazon to choose an LGBT-friendly city for its second headquarters.

As a part of a demonstration on Thursday, a plane with a banner touting the campaign’s name — “No Gay? No Way!” — is flying near the company’s Seattle headquarters. It’s timed to the tech giant’s fourth quarter earnings release.

The group is urging Amazon to build its second headquarters in a state that protects lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people from discrimination,

Last month, Amazon released a list of the 20 metro areas in the running for HQ2, following a request for cities to submit proposals.Nine of those finalists — Atlanta, Austin, Columbus, Dallas, Indianapolis, Miami, Nashville, Raleigh and Northern Virginia— are in states thatfail to protect LGBT people from employment, housing and public accommodations discrimination, according to the campaign.

The campaign is also running digital ads in Seattle and those nine states, and deploying a traveling mobile billboard around Seattle. The ad says: “Hey, Alexa? Why would Amazon even consider putting HQ2 in a state that discriminates against LGBT people?”

On its website, the campaign called Amazon a “champion” of the LGBT community, citing how it’s been vocal on issues such as legislation that discriminates against transgender people in the U.S.